In the field of flight management systems (FMS), searching for and updating meteorological information throughout the flight and on arrival and at alternative airports are tasks that are important to the profitability and security of the flight. They are repetitive and relatively awkward tasks that the crew must carry out just before the flight, before starting the descent (to confirm or update the information obtained prior to the flight) and on long-haul flights before passing each decision point to alternative airports.
Before the flight, the crew requests the current meteorological conditions on the route and on the predicted alternatives. The crew requests or listens to the ATIS (Air Traffic Information Service) which gives them the runway in service and the meteorological conditions and the landing procedure in force. Similarly, during a long-haul flight, in particular if it is making an ocean crossing, the crew updates the meteorological conditions for arrival at the alternative airport by requesting them usually via ACARS (Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System) from its airline or other accredited supplier, shortly before arriving at the decision point (the point on the trajectory where the decision is made to divert or to continue). Currently, there is no system in the field of meteorological information, making it possible to reduce the workload of an aircraft crew in the various phases of preparing for a flight or during the flight.
In addition provision is made, in the context of enhancing the accuracy of the weather forecasts for the trajectory, to more frequently update the meteorological data (of the wind, temperature, etc. type), by using the datalink. These loaded data will be greater in number, generating for the crew more difficulties and time to analyse them and load them.